


lucky one

by sauveznous



Series: minayeon oneshot fest [1]
Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:00:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25611724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sauveznous/pseuds/sauveznous
Summary: It started out quite chaotic, but Mina and Nayeon managed. Like they always did for their daughters.
Relationships: Im Nayeon/Myoui Mina
Series: minayeon oneshot fest [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1856449
Comments: 10
Kudos: 305





	lucky one

**Author's Note:**

> First MiNayeon oneshot with a prompt from some friends on Twitter!! Will be doing more of this so feel free to drop your own prompt on my Twitter if you want. It's fluff but it gets a little heavy somehow... but I hope you like this one!!

If Mina were to describe Nayeon with one word; that probably would be impulsive.

The first time Nayeon asked for her number many years ago, Mina could tell that it was an impulsive act. They were supposed to get back to their own business after being forced to finish detention together, or so Mina thought. It wasn’t really her fault because all Mina knew about Nayeon was that she belonged in the cool kids club, unlike her.

Years had passed since it happened and yet Nayeon hadn’t changed.

“Babe,” She sighed, for the nth time that day alone, when Nayeon once again touched the decoration they had put together in the living room, “it’s all set. You don’t have to worry about anything.”

Mina had only stepped inside their apartment after a long day at work a few days prior when Nayeon suddenly dragged her to their bedroom. She hissed, _do you even remember what date is next Wednesday!_ and Mina only rolled her eyes. Of course she remembered. She remembered her daughters’ birthdays more than her own, even Nayeon’s sometimes, but she wouldn’t say it out loud.

But Nayeon did have a point. Then again, it had been a while since they had a real celebration of Tzuyu’s birthday. Their first daughter never demanded any kind of flashy presents or such, she always said she was happy with just her parents, and her mischievous little twin sisters, remembering her birthday. Which, of course, only made everyone eager to do the exact opposite.

Nayeon wasn’t facing her but Mina could tell her wife was pouting, “But what if she doesn’t like it?”

Mina wanted to deny that, but she decided to just let Nayeon do her thing. It wasn’t always a bad thing in letting Nayeon to get on her impulsive side. Indeed, Mina had to get ready for the next day’s workload because Nayeon told her to use her leave a day before, but she didn’t really mind. It was worth it.

It wasn’t very flashy to begin with. They just put some colorful balloons and the ones shaped with T-Z-U-Y-U letters pasted on the wall. Nayeon arranged it so that it could match the colorful balloons together as the backdrop. The huge layer cake, Tzuyu’s favorite, was going to be put on the circular table right some steps from the wall. Nayeon had magically ordered a blue tablecloth online that came just on time.

“Babe, is blue really her favorite color?”

“Yeah,” Mina sat down on the couch, adjusting her birthday hat a little bit, “she wrote that on her workbook, remember?”

“Oh my God, her plushy!”

When Nayeon sprinted to Tzuyu’s bedroom to get her dog plushy, Mina knew she wouldn’t stop panicking until the kids got home. She sighed one more time and lied back onto the couch, tilting her head up to look at the glow in the dark stars she put on the ceiling. She remembered Tzuyu shyly asked for it some years back. Mina smiled.

-

Mina and Nayeon first met Tzuyu when the little girl could barely talk.

Both of them thought it was fate. People who took care of Tzuyu before them repeatedly said that she was really shy, so everyone was taken aback when little Tzuyu suddenly ran to hug Nayeon, a total stranger that time. Nayeon couldn’t speak when it happened. It was so quick. None of them hesitated when they approached the caretaker to know more about the little girl.

The process was long and tiring but it was paid off the moment Tzuyu was free to leave with them. Both of them were anxious at first, somehow having doubts about raising a little girl. Did they not think this through? They weren’t even engaged or anything, although they did have moved in together. They already had a stable jobs, but it was only starting. They didn’t have much saved up yet.

But as Tzuyu grew, so did Mina and Nayeon. There was no day passed with them away from Tzuyu’s side. Both of them agreed to take parenting lessons in turns from time to time. Both of them were there when Tzuyu said her first word, it was _puppy!,_ with her small finger pointing at the TV. Both of them were there when Tzuyu first entered pre-school. All those early years, they would like to think that they did well in raising the girl; their daughter.

One random night when Nayeon was away on a business trip, Mina was lying on her back in their shared bed with Tzuyu on her chest when she randomly asked her daughter what if she married Nayeon. Tzuyu, who was four that time, raised her head with wide eyes asking back if they really weren’t married because she thought they already were. Mina took that as a yes, reminding herself to give a call back to the jewelry store she came across two weeks prior.

There was a lot of doubt that took Mina four whole years to finally propose.

When Nayeon and her agreed to move in together, none of them had marriage in mind and they were open to each other about it. They had many differences but Mina was glad marriage plan wasn’t included in it. It was just Tzuyu’s presence really made Mina rethink her choices over and over again. They were happy, yes, but she imagined how happier they would be if they tied the knot. It would make things perfect.

Her daughter’s approval was surprisingly enough to build the courage Mina had longed for. She went back to the jewelry store a few days later. The ring they offered was very pretty.

Tzuyu was only four but she was great in keeping secrets, indeed. The thing was, she definitely couldn’t hide her excitement well. Nayeon noticed how she was really smiley when they went out for a _casual_ dinner, which Mina reasoned that she didn’t have time to cook that day when her turn came. Tzuyu just shook her head with endless giggles, making Nayeon laugh and Mina holding the steering wheel tighter because of course she couldn’t trust a four year old.

Needless to say, it went well. Mina brought them to a fancy restaurant, the whole thing probably costed one-third of her monthly salary that time, and had a waiter with a chef, along with Tzuyu, helping her to propose. It was her first time making Nayeon cry and she was very glad that it was out of happiness.

-

“Well,”

The sight of the stars on the ceiling was then replaced with a scowling Nayeon.

“Are you not going to help me?”

Mina blinked, then sat up straight, “Oh, okay, sorry,”

Nayeon had both hands on her hips, “It’s only like two hours left until they go home! There’s still a lot of things to do, oh my God,”

Early in the morning Mina and Nayeon pretended they both had to go to work first so the three daughters would have to join Dahyun’s ride. The poor college girl was helpless when Nayeon bombarded her phone with text messages begging for her cooperation. Dahyun was a really nice girl. Her family lived on the same floor. Mina and Nayeon were lucky she was in her last year already, so her schedule was flexible.

Mina wasn’t sure but she hoped Nayeon also invited Chaeyoung, Dahyun’s close friend. They went to same major and played with the kids a lot. It would be so much fun with both of them around.

“What else?” Mina returned the scowl, she loved Nayeon with all her heart, really, but she didn’t fancy the paranoid state she was in, “Also not the dog plushy being put on the table. It certainly will get dirty and Tzuyu will be upset.”

“Alright, I’m moving it back to her room.” Nayeon crossed her arms, staring down intensely at the couch, “Get up.”

“Huh?”

“Get up, babe.” Mina was then being pulled up to stand, “We need to move the couch.”

“What? Why?”

“To make it more spacious!” Nayeon took a step back, then observing the living room, probably to imagine how it would be without the couch, “We need to make an enough space for photo taking, babe.”

“Then we can just pull this back to the wall--”

“No, no,” Nayeon insisted and Mina knew she couldn’t win, “how if it’s still seen on the pictures! It’s going to be ugly so let’s move it.”

The nearest they were able to move the couch without losing their breath was to the kitchen. They continued with the coffee table and unexpectedly it was somehow heavier. Or was it just Mina getting older, she wasn’t sure. Nayeon seemed to be satisfied a little as she rearranged some of the balloons. Mina waited for a moment, in case Nayeon needed her to do things again, then went to get herself a glass of water when Nayeon seemed to be busy by herself.

Mina’s eyes stayed glued to the family picture they took when the twins were born. It was pasted on the fridge for years. Mina put the glass down and gently took the picture with her hands. A smile was once again present.

-

She never expected to have twins, really. So did Nayeon.

Both of them were happy, sure, it was just a little different for Mina. She became a hundred more paranoid. Nayeon wasn’t only carrying one baby inside her, but two! Mina couldn’t bear to be away from Nayeon even just for a short while after figuring out they were expecting twins.

Nayeon’s cravings became way worse too, somehow. Mina was grateful that she could cook decent food for herself because all the money she had went to those various food deliveries every single day. Sometimes Nayeon would spam her messages when she couldn’t cater immediately to her cravings. Mina was lucky the company where she worked back then was pretty lax with her.

Tzuyu, who was about to turn five that time, one night asked Mina of why her mama was so annoying. She asked for pizza and only touched half a slice before asking for some chicken. She might be sweet, but Tzuyu was rather blunt too. If she thought her mama was annoying then she would say it without hesitating.

Mina only gave her a tired smile, stopped typing for a moment and pulled Tzuyu to her lap, making little noises so Nayeon wouldn’t wake up. Her eyes were red because she barely got enough sleep these past months. Her workload was normal, but she knew she would take her leave in a few weeks so she tried to do most of it to save her own ass later.

She wasn’t sure if her half-asleep explanation about women and pregnancy in the middle of the night for Tzuyu was clear enough, but her daughter didn’t push. Maybe Tzuyu was already sleepy but couldn’t sleep, something she definitely got from night owl Mina, and she ended up falling asleep in Mina’s arms that night. Two hours later when Nayeon suddenly woke up and was about to whine about strawberries, Mina somehow knew before she did, her tired eyes while holding Tzuyu in front of her computer was enough to convince Nayeon to wait until morning.

Some months later, Mina almost cried when Nayeon suddenly went into labor.

Almost, if only Nayeon didn’t land her hand on Mina’s head and pulled her hair as she screamed her lungs out. She had imagined the process to be emotional, with her being by Nayeon’s side, holding her hand, and she teared up every time the image came into mind, but it didn’t happen. Nayeon’s hand somehow flailed away from her grasp and ended up being on her head.

When the sound of a baby’s cries was heard for the first time, Nayeon loosened her grip on Mina’s hair and Mina felt like her world had stopped. It was a girl. Mina knew it was a girl, Nayeon had been too curious about the genders, but it felt like a brand new information at that very moment. Again, she felt tears welling up in her eyes.

But it didn’t last long.

When the doctor half-shouted _one more!_ Nayeon’s hand was back pulling her hair even harder. _Why did we even have twins!_ was shouted right into her ear and Mina only pursed her lips while helplessly grabbing her wife’s arm. She thought maybe it happened a lot in labor, with the way the doctor and nurses didn’t react to the mess that was Lim Nayeon, but she was still embarrassed. The people in that room would remember them for sure.

By the time it ended, Mina looked like she had been struck by a tornado or something. Their friends and Tzuyu, who anxiously waited outside, went from being worried to having simultaneous laughter when Mina went out with a sheepish smile. Her daughter wasn’t an exception as she showed her dimple when Mina carried her. _Mommy, look at your hair!_ Yeah, the embarrassment was a very, very small price to pay for having three beautiful daughters.

-

“Babe!”

Mina jumped at Nayeon’s voice and rushed back to the living room.

“What? What is it?”

Nayeon was ambiguously measuring the height of the balloon letters on the wall from the floor with her fingers, “You sure SaMo can’t reach this?”

It earned her a scoff. Nayeon stood straight up and glared at her.

“A few hours away and you already forgot how tall they are.”

“Well, they can jump!” Nayeon exclaimed, “Don’t say you’re not worried about them too.”

Mina opened her mouth but closed it again without arguing. Nayeon was right.

Their youngest twin daughters certainly inherited Nayeon’s hyperactive behavior. If Tzuyu were more like Mina, then Sana and Momo were complete carbon copies of Nayeon. Mina had lost count of how many furniture they had to replace every month because of the mischievous twins. They even somehow broke the TV placed on the wall way above their heads. So Nayeon definitely was right for worrying about the twins. If they could break a TV, then balloons were a piece of cake to destroy.

“I think they’re going to behave just fine with Dahyun around.” Mina crossed her arms, “You invited Chaeyoung too, right? They seem to get along well with SaMo.”

Nayeon slightly shifted the Y balloon higher, “I think we need to reprimand them more seriously, babe. We have enough problems of them at home so imagine if we take them to our families’ places. It’s never going to be good.”

Mina agreed as she laughed, she had already thought about it, “We literally hugged them to our chests for hours during Christmas dinner last year so that they wouldn’t go anywhere. Sana almost threw a tantrum right there in front of everyone.”

“Sana,” Nayeon shook her head, “she’s especially hard.”

Nayeon somehow managed to convince Mina that they needed to place all the letter balloons even higher so Mina had to tiptoe to shift all of them. She also made sure the decorations would look just fine if the twins decided they would rip all the colored papers away before photo taking time. When they were done, Nayeon finally admitted that she was tired, and both of them sat down on the floor where the couch was originally placed.

“One more hour!” Nayeon squealed when she checked the time on her phone, “Remind me to get the cake from the fridge in--”

“Forty-five minutes, yes,” Mina almost rolled her eyes, “fifteen minutes before they arrive. I remember. Now let’s breathe a bit.”

Before Nayeon could argue, Mina lied down on the floor placing her head on Nayeon’s lap.

“Tired?” Mina nodded, “Then you should exercise more, oldie.”

“Excuse me?” Mina gave her a face, “You’re older than me.”

Nayeon ruffled Mina’s hair, “Well, in my defense, we’re both old. Tzuyu is turning nine. Like… don’t you just think about it sometimes… she’s _nine_ , that’s crazy,”

“Yeah, she’s now a little too heavy to be carried around,” Mina sighed, “I have to cherish the time when I can still carry SaMo easily before they get older.”

When they fell into a comfortable silence, Mina closed her eyes. Before Nayeon was back on her paranoid state, she would like a short rest. She tried to picture her daughters’ smiles later when they got home.

-

People would say that Tzuyu was lucky to be where she was, with Mina and Nayeon, while for both Mina and Nayeon, they were the lucky ones.

They were still very young when they first had Tzuyu. They had never taken care of a child before, let alone a child they called their own. They had many worries and uncertainties about the way they raised Tzuyu. It wasn’t like Tzuyu was difficult to raise, not at all, she was even the opposite. It was just she was too good to be true that Mina and Nayeon started to worry.

After the twins were born, Mina and Nayeon were too preoccupied with them. Of course, they were newborns, and twins, so they took most of the parents’ attention. Back then they still couldn’t afford a babysitter so they took turns taking leave and squeezed time in their respective schedules for the twins. There were many sacrifices along the way, like how eventually Nayeon had to resign from her job, or how Tzuyu went from getting all the attention to barely any.

The second one was more painful.

Nonetheless, Tzuyu was a little girl too. She needed her parents’ attention too. No matter how kind and understanding she was, it didn’t erase the fact that she was Mina and Nayeon’s daughter too. At the back of both parents’ mind, they thought about it a lot. At the repeated disappointment they had given Tzuyu when they couldn’t make some time to pick her up from school so she had to stay at her friend’s house for some hours. Or when they couldn’t stay awake while helping Tzuyu with her homework and when they woke up, it was because of the twins’ cries in the middle of the night.

So while they did think they had been very good with the twins, at the same time they felt they were _terrible_ with Tzuyu.

They didn’t have enough time to retake parenting lessons, so they had many talks with Tzuyu’s homeroom teacher once every few days. They were honest in telling the teacher about their worries, about their thoughts of how they had been neglecting their first daughter, although unintentionally, and asked for some advices of how to fix it.

It was at that moment that they realized how lucky they were to have Tzuyu.

Little Tzuyu who was kind but blunt was honest too in telling her homeroom teacher that she felt like her parents didn’t pay much attention to her after her little sisters were born. She admitted of feeling sad about it. When she was asked of why she never told her parents, and instead went to her homeroom teacher about it, she simply said it was because she understood. She was sad but it didn’t mean she didn’t understand why it was like that. And she didn’t want to make her parents feel bad.

There weren’t many advices given, but Mina and Nayeon started to fix things in baby steps after the continuous talks with the homeroom teacher. They started writing out schedules of when to take care of Tzuyu in between the time they had for both the twins and work. It didn’t have to be something grand. It could be just as simple as brushing teeth together or forehead kisses before bedtime. The latter soon became Tzuyu’s favorite.

And after the mini celebration of Tzuyu’s ninth birthday that year, Mina was sure it would become something they do every year.

-

The kids came home when Nayeon was still panicking.

It was because the cake somehow slipped from her grasp and briefly hit the table so it was awkwardly shaped on one of its sides. Mina managed to catch it on time but it didn’t save everything. The tablecloth was stained too so Nayeon had to throw everything away to find the box of tissues that was supposed to be on the coffee table. It was all a total chaos. Even Mina was panicking too for some good minutes.

When they heard the door being opened, Mina quickly spun the cake so the awkwardly shaped side wasn’t visible and put her birthday hat back on. She helped Nayeon cleaning the tablecloth then putting on some plastic cups to cover the remaining stain. She threw the dirty tissues carelessly and hoped no one caught it. Nayeon then grabbed the party horns and threw Mina one which she barely caught.

“Happy birthday, Tzuyu!”

Mina wasn’t sure when Dahyun and Chaeyoung bought the confetti, but it was thrown everywhere after they blew the birthday horns. The yelling came from the twins while Tzuyu stood there with her mouth hung open. It melted Mina’s heart to see Tzuyu being so surprised because it had been a really while since they last celebrated her birthday like this.

Nayeon quickly sauntered to give her a big hug and it resulted in contagious giggles. Mina joined her later, all her strength came back just from seeing the bright smile on her daughter’s face as she carried her and spun her around.

“Happy birthday, baby.” She kissed her cheek, “Mommy loves you.”

Tzuyu wrapped her arms around her neck, “I love Mommy and Mama too!”

The twins didn’t give her much time to hold Tzuyu when they tackled her to have their turns in kisses. Both of them really loved kisses, probably more than Tzuyu did, so it was a wild attack of kisses for the nine year old, but she didn’t mind. Mina was too immersed in the moment so she forgot to take some pictures, but luckily Chaeyoung was there, so she was in charge of it.

“Why you so tall!” Momo pouted, clinging to Tzuyu’s neck, “Can’t kiss you!”

Sana, always the wilder one, climbed to Tzuyu’s back, “Carry me! Carry me!”

“No, no,” Nayeon shook her head, grabbing the back of Sana’s uniform shirt, pulling her away from Tzuyu easily with one hand and silenced her whines with a playful glare, Sana somehow really liked piggyback rides lately, “Tzu will get tired, sweetheart.”

“But--”

Mina quickly pointed at the living room, “Look! Balloons!”

Momo’s loud gasp made Sana stop whining and they both chased after the balloons in the living room. It was a good thing that they noticed the balloons first before the cake, so Tzuyu could have the first bite of it. She had her mouth wide opened again at the sight of the big layer cake on the table. It was french vanilla; her favorite.

She looked at both Mina and Nayeon in turn, “Is this for me?”

“Mm-hmm,” Nayeon bent down to kiss the crown of her head, “all for you, honey. Let’s take a bite.”

Mina knew Chaeyoung would insist on taking pictures with the cake so she cut the awkwardly shaped side only for Tzuyu to eat. Tzuyu teased Nayeon about dropping the cake, she could tell it was her mama. While the twins were still busy with the balloons, Chaeyoung took some pictures of the three with the cake. Of course it didn’t last long as Mina and Nayeon soon had to each hold Sana and Momo so that they wouldn’t attack the cake immediately.

“Want the cake!” Mina regretted a bit that she didn’t wear a long-sleeved shirt because she was sure Sana hadn’t cut her nails, “Mommy! Want the cake!”

“Smile to the camera first then you can eat the cake,” Mina carried Sana so she would stop scratching her arms, even though the pout was still present but the smile when the camera clicked was genuine enough, “look at Chaengie and smile, baby,”

It was only three pictures but it felt like forever for the twins. Tzuyu didn’t seem to mind when Sana and Momo started ravaging her birthday cake. She even looked happier seeing all the whipped cream on her little sisters’ faces. Nayeon put the birthday hats on the kids when they were busy eating.

“Dahyunie, Chaengie,” Tzuyu then pulled on both college girls’ sleeves, “let’s eat!”

Mina barely got a bite because she took over in taking pictures. Seeing her three daughters happy really made something spark inside her. Like a boost of energy. She was a little bit of a clean freak but she didn’t mind when Momo started smearing whipped cream on everyone’s faces, prompting Sana to do the same. She was lucky Momo’s hands was small so it barely covered her face with all the whipped cream on it.

The monitor beeped a little over an hour later, signaling that their friends had come. Jungyeon bought a gigantic teddy bear plushy for Tzuyu and smaller ones for Sana and Momo. Jihyo bought the girls the latest Xbox, making Mina also equally as excited as her daughters and Nayeon had to subtly tease her about it. Jackson and Jinyoung teamed up for a huge box with various toys and dolls inside, which Mina believed would all be destroyed in a week. All of them really spoiled her daughters rotten.

The twins gifted them all back with whipped cream.

Of course Mina and Nayeon had prepared their own gifts for Tzuyu, but they were still hidden somewhere else so the twins wouldn’t whine because they envied their sister. It was something they still needed to teach Sana and Momo; the concept of not always getting what their big sister got, but they would find some other time later for it.

The toys and dolls were enough of another distraction for Sana and Momo so Tzuyu could take pictures with the guests. Mina and Nayeon sneaked in for some, too. Mina even felt like soon enough there would be a notification of her phone’s memory being full. She took so many pictures of her daughter. She made a mental note to move them all to her laptop later.

The atmosphere calmed down when the twins got a little tired and just idly played with the toys. They all gathered sitting down in the living room, cooing over Tzuyu who got all the attention. She was doing very well in school, something she was shy to admit when Jihyo asked. She was one of the smartest students in class as she understood all the subjects fairly well. There wasn’t anything she was bad at in particular. She was just good at everything. Mina would proudly say she got that from her and Nayeon would disagree.

“Do you still have the dog plushy, Tzu?”

The nod was confident when Jungyeon asked that, “Minjoong sleeps in my room every night!”

“She never lets go of it.” Nayeon added, hugging her daughter, “She named it Minjoong herself.”

“You take care of your stuffs well.” Jinyoung softly patted her head, “That’s really great, Tzu.”

“She still uses the tumbler I gave her years ago, too.” Dahyun added.

Tzuyu was still shy in nature so every time she got complimented she would hide her face in Nayeon’s neck as she was on her lap. Mina couldn’t help but take even more pictures of it.

When a loud noise was heard, Mina didn’t need to guess that it was the twins. Apparently, one of the toys fell onto the floor because Momo attempted to throw it to Sana. See, it hadn’t even been an hour and one toy already had it hard to survive. Jackson jokingly tickled them for that and their laughter filled the room.

Jihyo nudged her, “SaMo will turn four this year, right?”

“Yeah.” Mina nodded with a sigh. She was still in disbelief, somehow.

“Time really flew so fast. I know they’re like monsters now but you’ll miss the way they run around and mess everything in the house when they grow up later.”

Mina laughed at that, “Yeah, I know. Watching Tzuyu grow is already wild enough. I can’t imagine how it’ll be for SaMo.”

After the twins had calmed down again Mina gave them both kisses just because. Her little devils were too adorable to be true.

“Mommy!”

She was a little busy looking at the twins when suddenly Tzuyu ran toward her and hid behind her back. Nayeon, with her huge hands full of whipped cream, playfully crawled to her daughter with an exaggerated growl. Mina played along and put both arms back covering Tzuyu but was silenced when Nayeon suddenly smeared the whipped cream all over her face instead.

The whole place became a laughter fest with her daughters being the loudest ones. Mina couldn’t even get angry at that because it made her wife and daughters happy.

Soon the whipped cream party re-started and Mina swore she would need at least three days to clean the whole apartment.

-

When the sun went down, the twins were already passed out on the floor. It was the guests’ cue to leave, with Mina insisting that there was no need for them to help her clean. She would just call someone to do the chore for them if it was too much. Tzuyu already started cleaning a little when Mina and Nayeon had to put the twins to bed.

The three of them did the best they could to clean with their remaining strength but they realized they joked around more than they cleaned so Mina decided to call a service for the next day instead. It was still in the middle of the week, so all of them had to go to work and school the next day, they couldn’t be too tired.

Later that night when everyone else was already asleep, Mina was sitting in the kitchen with her laptop, moving the pictures from her phone. She looked for some good ones to print. Since the laptop was shared with Nayeon, they put all of the family pictures there and Mina was tempted to look back to their past pictures.

She couldn’t help but to look back to a certain folder, named after the same date, three years prior.

She would say that the most memorable one was when they celebrated Tzuyu’s birthday right after moving to their current apartment. After having the twins, both Mina and Nayeon agreed that their past apartment was too small. They never meant to have twin daughters so it was understandable that they chose a small place to live. Well, they never even meant to get married in the first place when they moved in together, too.

After the twins were able to be left with their friends to take care of while they were away, most times with Jihyo and Jungyeon, Mina and Nayeon started looking for new places. They had a few options in mind and with long discussions, they decided on the best one. Which, unfortunately, was also the most expensive one.

Mina had already counted the financial consequences they had to face if they chose that one. They weren’t struggling or anything but it was just a little too expensive for them. They had to manage their savings extra strictly for some months ahead. And that included Tzuyu’s birthday which was coming up that time.

It wasn’t just about the birthday, but the way they had to worry about a mere _birthday_ was enough of a bloody proof of their financial state. Living in Seoul was quite tough and both of them knew that. The thing was, they didn’t have the heart to tell little Tzuyu about it. Basically forbidding her to buy anything new for a few _months_ including her birthday felt so heavy to do.

At the same time they had to decide fast. The lease agreement had its deadline. It wasn’t just them who was interested in the apartment. The decision eventually was made and the consequences had to be faced.

Mina’s finger scrolled down the pictures in that folder. She clicked on one, showing them all sitting around the dining table with a small cake on it, Tzuyu smiling in the middle.

They were really lucky to have Tzuyu. Six year old Tzuyu could understand their situation well. She even said not to worry much about her. As long as they could move to a better place, then she wouldn’t mind not being able to receive any birthday gift from her parents.

Mina was a little too immersed in the picture that she jumped when there was a sound of a door being opened. It was Tzuyu.

“Hi, baby,” Mina closed the windows, “can’t sleep?”

Tzuyu nodded, sleepily climbed onto Mina’s lap, “Yeah, Mom… do you have work?”

Mina hugged her to her chest, chin on the top of her head, “Nope, just moving the pictures we took today.”

“Can I have the one we took with the cake in my bedroom?”

“Sure.”

“With a frame?”

“Of course, baby.” Mina chuckled, “Let’s buy a frame this weekend.”

Mina thought Tzuyu was already asleep when she went silent. She reorganized the folders on the laptop and put it on a chronological order. Nayeon was less organized than her, so Mina was left with the task to put everything in order in the laptop.

“Mommy,” Mina almost jumped at the voice, “can we keep the balloons?”

Mina looked at the living room, “The letter balloons?”

“Mm-hmm. I like them. You’ll have to buy the same for SaMo too, though,”

It made Mina chuckle again, “It’s fine. We’ll put them on your wall tomorrow, alright?”

“Okay,”

Mina shifted their position slightly, hugging her daughter tighter, “Did you have fun today?”

“Yes.” The dimple was present when Tzuyu grinned, “My classmates all remembered my birthday. They gave me a small surprise in the middle of English class.”

“They did?”

“Yeah,” Tzuyu giggled, “I don’t think we studied English much today because of me.”

“That’s okay. Want to open your gifts from Mama and I?”

Tzuyu hummed, then shook her head, “I think it will wake SaMo. How about tomorrow?”

Mina kissed the crown of her head, “Alright, baby. Tomorrow it is.”

Tzuyu closed her eyes, Mina could tell that she would fall asleep soon, “Did you really skip work today, Mom?”

“Yeah. Mama and I skipped work today. We went out to get the balloons, birthday hats, horns, and all this morning.”

“Is it okay? You don’t skip work often.”

Mina couldn’t help but melt at that, “Yes, baby, it’s fine. I wouldn’t want to miss your birthday.”

When Tzuyu yawned, Mina offered to carry her to bed. Her daughter probably still didn’t want to let go of her birthday yet so that was why she was still awake. Mina promised her she would take her to her favorite restaurant later on the weekend. Tzuyu seemed to be happy with that promise.

“Can I have the cake again? Some other time?” Tzuyu asked, when she was already on the bed with Mina sitting on the edge, “Just one slice?”

Mina brushed her hair slowly, “Anything you want, baby. This weekend, okay? Now go to sleep. We’ll drive you to school tomorrow.”

Tzuyu bit her lip and pulled on her blanket to cover half of her face, “Okay…”

Mina raised her eyebrows at that. She knew Tzuyu had something else to say. So she waited.

The girl hesitated a bit before asking, “Mommy, can I tell you a secret? But promise you won’t tell Mama?”

“A secret?” Mina half-whispered as she leaned closer, making Tzuyu giggle, “Okay, I promise. What is it?”

Tzuyu brought both hands to cup Mina’s cheeks and pulled her to whisper in her ear, “Actually, I already knew about the birthday surprise this morning.”

It instantly made Mina frown, deeply, _wait_ _what?_

“What-- how? How did you know? Who told you?”

Tzuyu pulled away, holding her giggles down, “SaMo did.”

“SaMo?” Mina needed a few seconds to accept that, “SaMo told you?”

Her daughter finally couldn’t help but to laugh at her dejected face, “They were too excited.”

Mina had her lips parted before sighing, the deepest she let out that day, or even that week, “SaMo… right.”

Those little demons.

“Don’t tell Mama about it!” Tzuyu reminded her again, still whispering, “SaMo will get in trouble!”

It was bold of her to assume the twins wouldn’t be in trouble with Mina knowing, but Mina supposed it was true. She wouldn’t have the heart to do anything about it to Sana and Momo. Nayeon, though, would have another story.

“Alright.” Mina obeyed, “What could we expect from your two little minions, anyway, hmm?”

Mina then surged forward to give Tzuyu the usual forehead kiss. When Tzuyu mentioned about her promise of not telling Nayeon _again_ , she was so skeptical of Mina, Mina playfully shoved her palm to her lips with an eye roll. Always so protective of her little sisters.

“Good night, baby.” Mina stood up, opening the door, “Mommy loves you.”

Tzuyu wrapped the blanket tighter around herself, “Good night, Mommy. I love you too.”

With one last smile, Mina nodded her head and exited the bedroom, closing the door behind her. She still had the same smile when she lied down beside her wife a few minutes after. Wrapping her arm around Nayeon, she closed her eyes.

She really was the lucky one.

****

**Author's Note:**

> I'm @svnous on Twitter!!


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